Showing posts with label Vietnam. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vietnam. Show all posts
Sunday, November 06, 2011
Wednesday, November 02, 2011
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Nha Trang, Vietnam
It was our second year wedding anniversary yeterday, we woke up and went for an early mornming dip in the ocean. The water is a beautiful blue and so nice an warm! wish it was like this at home!
We had another tour aranged for us, organised by our hotel in Ho chi min. We had absolutly no idea what was involvd in our tour, as we have totally left that part of our holiday in their hands! It was quite exciting when the bus that picked us and 12 others from the hotel dropped us off at a port and we were shown onto a boat. The tour guide explained that we would be doing a island hop around the beautiful islands in this area.
The journey started with a stop at an aquarium on one island. Its an insanely built place, shaped like a shark(?) coming out of the mouintain, and then inside of the buiding is decorated like the inside of the shark (?) there was even more detail to 'entertain' humans. While the fish tanks themselves were quite empty and dull looking. Outside the aquarium, there was a cut off area from the sea, which was home to about 6 turtles (my favourite creature ever!) and small sharks who would lie on the backs of the turtles as they swam around.
Back on the boat and our leader gave us a hilarious rendition of 'my heart will go on' with his back to us standing with his arms spread on the bow of the boat. Hilarious.
The second island we went to was about 30 minutes away, through some amazing landscapes. Passing other islands which look uninhabited at first and then a few signs of life close to the shore.
One island we passed had almost street like rafts built from its shore, into the ocean, and houses built on the rafts. The islands here look very inhospitable as they are all high mountains with steep rises and no flat surfaces. So building these rafts streets is a perfect way for the locals to live near the islands. We also passed fish farms, with fish filled to the brim of the nets.
When we arrived at the next island we were give snorkelling equipment, and we all pilled into the water to check out the reef. The reef was really boring only a few fish and most of the coral was dead. But it was nice to be in the water and getting some sun. We both tired of the reef pretty soon, so went for a laze on the beach. I wrote in the sand 'happy 2nd year' and we bathed in the bautiful sun ....awwwww.
When we were called back onto the boat the chaiors had been arraneged cleverly into one large table and plates and plates of food and rice were waiting for us. Bok Choy, Pork and tofu,Shark with chiolli and ginger, Fish cake slices and scrambled turtle eggs! It was a delicious lunch, and I really learnt how to eat rice with chop sicks then!.
The next island we stopped at had watersports on it, banan boats, jet skis etc. No one was really interested in these, as we had all only just finished eating, but after about 20 mins, the on board entertainment started. The crew pulled out guitars and even a drum kit. The tour leader, and one of the male crew dressed as a ladyboy got on the mike and sang some Vietnamese songs and we were all invited up to sing a song from our country wityh his help. As my absolute terror is karaoke, I did not join in, neither did Maurice, but I thought he should do 'I should be so lucky'.
After that they turned on the trance music, and the ladyboy jumped into the water with 3 bottles of wine. He got into the middle of a circle of bouys and set up a floating bar. We all had to jump off the top of the boat and swim to him to get a shot of wine, they also provided life rings, so we could stay afrloat and keep on drinking. It was the funniest thing I have ever done on a boat!
The last Island was just to relax and chill on the beach under the shade of palm trees, by then we had got SO much sun!
Today we have seen a few markets and replaced the camera I lost on day three (DUUUUH!).
We had another tour aranged for us, organised by our hotel in Ho chi min. We had absolutly no idea what was involvd in our tour, as we have totally left that part of our holiday in their hands! It was quite exciting when the bus that picked us and 12 others from the hotel dropped us off at a port and we were shown onto a boat. The tour guide explained that we would be doing a island hop around the beautiful islands in this area.
The journey started with a stop at an aquarium on one island. Its an insanely built place, shaped like a shark(?) coming out of the mouintain, and then inside of the buiding is decorated like the inside of the shark (?) there was even more detail to 'entertain' humans. While the fish tanks themselves were quite empty and dull looking. Outside the aquarium, there was a cut off area from the sea, which was home to about 6 turtles (my favourite creature ever!) and small sharks who would lie on the backs of the turtles as they swam around.
Back on the boat and our leader gave us a hilarious rendition of 'my heart will go on' with his back to us standing with his arms spread on the bow of the boat. Hilarious.
The second island we went to was about 30 minutes away, through some amazing landscapes. Passing other islands which look uninhabited at first and then a few signs of life close to the shore.
One island we passed had almost street like rafts built from its shore, into the ocean, and houses built on the rafts. The islands here look very inhospitable as they are all high mountains with steep rises and no flat surfaces. So building these rafts streets is a perfect way for the locals to live near the islands. We also passed fish farms, with fish filled to the brim of the nets.
When we arrived at the next island we were give snorkelling equipment, and we all pilled into the water to check out the reef. The reef was really boring only a few fish and most of the coral was dead. But it was nice to be in the water and getting some sun. We both tired of the reef pretty soon, so went for a laze on the beach. I wrote in the sand 'happy 2nd year' and we bathed in the bautiful sun ....awwwww.
When we were called back onto the boat the chaiors had been arraneged cleverly into one large table and plates and plates of food and rice were waiting for us. Bok Choy, Pork and tofu,Shark with chiolli and ginger, Fish cake slices and scrambled turtle eggs! It was a delicious lunch, and I really learnt how to eat rice with chop sicks then!.
The next island we stopped at had watersports on it, banan boats, jet skis etc. No one was really interested in these, as we had all only just finished eating, but after about 20 mins, the on board entertainment started. The crew pulled out guitars and even a drum kit. The tour leader, and one of the male crew dressed as a ladyboy got on the mike and sang some Vietnamese songs and we were all invited up to sing a song from our country wityh his help. As my absolute terror is karaoke, I did not join in, neither did Maurice, but I thought he should do 'I should be so lucky'.
After that they turned on the trance music, and the ladyboy jumped into the water with 3 bottles of wine. He got into the middle of a circle of bouys and set up a floating bar. We all had to jump off the top of the boat and swim to him to get a shot of wine, they also provided life rings, so we could stay afrloat and keep on drinking. It was the funniest thing I have ever done on a boat!
The last Island was just to relax and chill on the beach under the shade of palm trees, by then we had got SO much sun!
Today we have seen a few markets and replaced the camera I lost on day three (DUUUUH!).
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Good evening vietnam!
Vietnam has comptlely blown my mind so far, from the food, the people, the cleanliness... I have no idea what I was expecting but it is just so much better than I imagined! From a person who has never really been a huge fan of Vietnamese food, I have completly changed my mind after eating here. The variety of food is amazing and the quality is outstanding. We are usually eating from street stalls, where you can see the food being made in front of you and the kitchen is not hidden behind a closed door. I have not had the same meal twice so far, even the baguettes they make are always filled with various yummy meats and cheeses.We have met some really lovely people, the Vietnamese are very friendly and caring people who are not going to hassle for a sale or persist in making you do something.They are also really creative. We went to the Chu Chi tunnels, just outside of Saigon, on our second day and the inventive and crafty ways of the Vietnamese blew us away. Ways to torture and trap the enemy, were horrific, and the tunnels themselves were so well planned. Amazing to see these things in real life. Climbing through the tunnels was hot, cramped and hard to imagine how they lived like that for so long. The same day we went to the war remnants museum, complete accounts from the bgining to the end of the war, the protests in the USA before it started through to the after effects of agent orange - some really terrifying foetus' will always be etched in my head. Where we were staying in Saigon (Ho Chi Min) was a full on backpackers area, but unlike most backpackers areas around the world, you can actually go into most shps here and browse around without getting any hassle. This a big big plus, and may be bringing a few things home with me now I have had the chance to properly look at things! Met a few tourists from around the world on our last night, including a girl from Harlow!Yesterday we took a bus from Saigon to here, De'lat. The bus was a 7 hour white knuckle ride, around hairpin bends on the wrong side of the road for most of the time (when not weaving in and out of other huge vehicles). We had both had quite a heavy night the night before, and those turns and the hight that we were going made our stomachs turn. The journey was amazing, the higher we got the better the views and we passed so many quaint, clean and happy villages. As we were arriving in De'lat in the early evening, we saw people settling at home for the night, cooking their meals, playing with their kids, and bringing in the coffee beans that had been drying in the sun all day. The soil looks so lush up here, they grow strawberries in huge greehouses covering acres and acres of land and coffee is their main produce (the coffe in Vietnam is gorgeous, really nutty and they usually serve it iced with CONDENSED milk. YUUUUMM)
Today we went on another tour (yes my dear blog readers, we have started doing tours now. Is this a sign that we are getting older?!), around De'lat. Took loads and loads in, took a boat to a small island, met some lovely tourists on our tour and laughed with the tour guide who only wanted to look at couples kiss in the Vally of love (a romanitic park for couples courting). We also went to the last kings summer residence, whose 1920's house was full of gorgeous items that I would love to own and dressed up as kings and queens (photos to come).
Today we went on another tour (yes my dear blog readers, we have started doing tours now. Is this a sign that we are getting older?!), around De'lat. Took loads and loads in, took a boat to a small island, met some lovely tourists on our tour and laughed with the tour guide who only wanted to look at couples kiss in the Vally of love (a romanitic park for couples courting). We also went to the last kings summer residence, whose 1920's house was full of gorgeous items that I would love to own and dressed up as kings and queens (photos to come).
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